Developer Larry Dillin, who has committed to the creation of $320 million in private investments - including condominiums, restaurants, and hotels - for the Marina District in East Toledo, yesterday proposed changes to the financing structure he needs the city to back.
Mr. Dillin said attaining a letter of credit, which he needs before the city will close the deal on general obligation bonds for the project's public portion, has become increasingly difficult.
He wants to apply the letter of credit to just two parcels - a hotel and residential development - rather than six parcels, as was the previous plan.
"If the financial industry and banking industry were not in turmoil, we would not be here today having this discussion," Mr. Dillin told Toledo City Council's economic development committee.
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080725/NEWS16/807250...
... is occurring to the impossible tapestry that Dillin and Czarty wove for us to gawk at.
There never was enough economic energy in this city to support such a grandiose, expensive retail project. The great crash of consumer credit is HERE, so even the poseurs are unable to maintain their spending.
The Marina Project is dead. This news article is merely the first diagnostic report back from the lab, and it shows Stage IV cancer. "Months to live."
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
The Great Economic Hope has failed Carty.
wa-oh Carty gittin' egg on his face!
bunch of ignorant mofo's up there in Emerald City.
Anyone the least bit surprised? I'm glad there's trouble now, rather than having a brand new ghost town built.
Who out here really thinks for one second that we wont eventually end up with a Marina District?
And who thinks for a fleetng second that the taxpayers WONT end up holding the bag, just like we have for every one of the mayor's other pet projects??
Portside
Cosi
ESM
The Hillcrest
bike paths
various and sundry lawsuits
The Marina District is far too big of a project to self-fund from the politician viewpoint. It can't be funded from tax revenue. It can't be funded from bonds (given how Toledo has blown its bond wad on other stupid projects). So it must be funded with private investment ... and that's obviously drying up for such a ludicrous project in the first place.
Portside and the ESM were all building-sized projects that can fit into some discretionary budget of a city government. But the Marina? $50 million and up. The City of Toledo just doesn't have that on tap.
In brighter times, the city might be able to convince a rack of private investors to go along with the project, but that's back to BONDS and other derivative instruments. We're in the wrong era, and we've exhausted our bond draws anyway.
I'm very, VERY happy to see that this farcical Marina District is unofficially dead. Dillin more than demonstrated his complicity with the crooks running the local development network, by appearing as a primary in this project. There's no way any developer of his experience could seriously believe this project had an investment life, much less an operating future.
Now we have to wait to hear about all the money Dillin has run off with. I really don't imagine the Blockade will be too curious, alas.